The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-11-27
THE UBIQUITOUS SPARROW.
HE MAY BE ENGLIsH, BUT HE DWELLs
LII OYER THE WORLn

ALL OYER TINE WORLn
saiis the Bui- Buis or the Herat Valley
In Chiss no has the Honor TO be Eaten.
A pair OF excited and berufled sparrows
settled on the window sill Of the house across
the street from my window. and savagely re-
newed the hostilitlest that had been interrupted
on the pavement by a passing policeman. They
attacked each other with tho fury Of feathered
demons, and with their angry screeching made
enough noise for a dozen birds. Their bristling
feathers converted them into spherical objects
almost, and the two little savages made the
feathers fly from each other, and rolled and
tumbled and few and pecked and chirped as
no other bird can do with the same fury as q
sparrow. Presently about a dozen others
darted Upon the window sill. and, without q
moments hesitation, commenced tho ~liveliest
kind Of a rough-and-tumble s%crimmage. They
made so much noise and fought 80 fercely
that heads appeared at several adjacent win
dows. passers-by stopped to enjoy tho scene
and to make comments. and even the police
man on the corner became interested, and
sauntered along to get q nearer view.
All sorts OF comments we're INDUCED in by
the people on the sidewalk. The general under
standing seemed to prevail that the English
sparrow" as he is universally called in this
country, was a bird peculiarly. and even ex-
clusively. indigenous to Great Britain before
he was brought over and got a fresh start in
America. Ono man observed that 1t seemed to
be a popularity Of many things that find their
way from England to other countries. that
they develop a wonderfully aggressive spirit
and a faculty OF multiplying and crowding
other species to the wall. In evidence OF this
he cited the case OF rabbits In Australia and
sparrows In the United States. Everybody
seemed to take 1t for granted that the warning
little birds on tho window sill wore =" quite
English. you know" and would no doubt have
opened their eyes In surprise. not to say in
credulity. had any one suggested that the spar
row Is no moro the English sparrow than he Is
tho Turkish sparrow or the Chinese sparrow.
We are not q nation OF ornithologists. conse-
auently only a few erudite professors are Ok
pected to know anything about tho origin Of
different species OF birds. Moreover, 1t is not
the purpose of the writer to discuss the spar
row as a subject Of ornithological research. but
to speak Of him Us found in different parts of
the world. He may have evolved from the
toads and snakes which St. Patrick banished
from the Emerald Isle. or he may have ap-
peared contemporaneously with COWS and
Brahmansn IN the dim remoteness OF Hindo9,
wherever his origin, he is to-day, in the broud-
est sense OF the term, a cosmopolitnn bird.
In every corner OF tho earth that my bicycle
western half Of tho United States. there - I
found the. English sparrow. Everywhere. too.
pushing, fighting. aggressive. rustling little
warrior that he is on the streets OF Now York.
2 2Tan my Tid 10 R ResSss t n sbS continent s,m%n from 1ss San
villages Of eastern Indiana. Ever since his in
the sparrow, has been. mistakenly following
Horace Greeley's sensible advice to young men.
pire westward ever Since he gained S a footh d
WAY, as {ar westward as indiana. The farmers
characteristics and his deeds that appeared
had not st. yet i seem en- him. i AF He IS pr paSS5i; Fan familiar ihsy
enough to them by this time. however, and it
Il mer sEd 2 r %qestion % Of z ab fey h5 yHaFS Until sIatas every SI|y
have its fields and orchards invaded by the
little rnsset.coated immigrants whose proGeni-
paratively speaking. but yesterday.
Whenever my memory wanders back to the
lures that overlook me in Asia. 1t is remark
able how frequently this same sparrow in
trudes itself. sometimes as a side show and
Its well-known audacity and aggressiveness
seem to carry it into every corner Of creation:
human action everywhere.
In all the strange adventures that fell to my
and sndr wi In assH Was the E MY isEn sparro% So" &hen I
was the guest Of the Ameer OF Seistan. that
amiable potentate actually used a sparrow to
upon me. l had sought him out at bertrand. after
ETseeiyinc orders from the British Legation At
toaf India 81 w0 When be I Sr 90 asslSt the Tie t sabjest.
h how, of tn the Ameer shook % his head, II
Hngua ticent.ia peculiar to the people of ,Khor-
from making the attempt. by enlarging upon
the dangers and Difficulties, of the route be-
greatest difficulties. he said. would be- getting
across the Harud. which, in that region. skirted
the eastern extremity Of the Desert OF Despair.
swift. and there was neither bridge nor boat.
Growing eloquent in his description. he pointed
distant d n objeot t to i indicate it's tse wi titst and %Sr Iastl y
tE q bird hopping about on the garden walk to
and recognized 1t at once as the familiar SPAR
row. Dozens of these sparrows, l then saw.
were making themselves at home In the
fafIs S ss!dss Il S Ssyi' Yoit Si rssid dsns s.suusn. 'n0
feat hsye SEN tpib ans cb GiaefilIsE 1iHn n e Wan,oo OF r the
sterer In the chastened twilight of the aisles of
st. Paul's Cathedral. London, and have de-
In that proudest mosque OF Mohammedanism,
St. Sophia, at Constantlnople. In tho town, Of
the ,mInaret Of the mosque and stood out on
the balcony while the muozzin called tho faith
Iul TO prayer. just ABOVE my nold l thought
I heard u familiar chirp. Looking up. l saw,
not ten feet away. n sparrow perched on the
masonry. and protrudinE from n hole close by
wore the ragged edges OF it's nest.
AudaciOus interloDer and ali-round vagabond
that he Is. the sparrow is not everywhere re-
garded as m enemy and destroyer. His ag-
gressiveness seems to have gotten him into
evil odor, in the United States. and English
farmers do Tor did n few years agol their
best to keep him from multiplying by paying a
bounty On eggs and young sparrows to the vii
not only an object Of liberation, but actually
wearing the garb Of holiness. l have seen the
russell coat of tho sparrow protecting him AS
sacredly AZ ever cowl or surplice protected the
person Of priest or prelate from harm.
In the holy city of Meshed, Persia, the spar;
row fights and quarrols on the house tons, and
asserts himself with the same characteristic
yigor that no displays in London or New, York.
He raids the pomegranato gardens, flches
morsels Of food from within six inches Of the
cats noses. makes war on more peaceful, birds.
and disports himself In a %riotous and disrep-
Meshedis wouldn't harm a feather on his body
under any circumstances. An inhabitant q
Meshed would starye to death rather than kin
and eat Q sparrow that made its home in their
under the protection OF the Prophet. and,